The anti-discrimination group FARE ’remain alarmed’ ahead of the 2018 World Cup in spite of a decrease in racist incidents compared to last season, says a new report detailing racist and far-right incidents in Russian football.

Journalist Osasu Obayiuwana, a member of the now dissolved FIFA Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination, shares his personal experiences and disappointment with FIFA’s half-hearted attempt to address racial and discriminatory issues in football. “The time for silence has ended,” he says and calls the disbandment of the Task Force a “grave mistake”.

Since Europeans first arrived in the Americas, native peoples have been decimated. In North America, where assimilation was rare and conquest or theft of land has been the norm, things were particularly harsh. Stereotypical depictions of natives as violent warriors helped legitimise this process, as did a series of derogatory names such as “redskins” and “savages”.

The World Players Union (FIFPro) has published a new report on the working conditions for Eastern European football players, who must struggle every day with lacking salary payments, violence, racism and match-fixing.

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